IntelBrief: The Implications of More Guns on American Streets

Bottom Line Up Front

• In a recent decision, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded nationally guaranteed gun rights.
• In a blow to states’ rights and the gun reform movement, the Court struck down a century-old New York State law regulating the individual’s right to carry a firearm in public.
• The recent ruling could call into question various states’ laws limiting the carrying of firearms in public and limit the ability of law enforcement agencies to combat the illicit arms trade.
• Despite the string of mass shootings, many in schools, the recent Supreme Court decision, increasing the rights of gun owners, reinforces a troubling strain of American exceptionalism.